


bloom

by sleeplessthrills



Series: paper kites [2]
Category: ITZY (Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, back when they're still in uni, burgeoning chef Ryujin, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27419422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeplessthrills/pseuds/sleeplessthrills
Summary: A collection of drabbles starring Chris and Ryujin.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Shin Ryujin
Series: paper kites [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2003284
Comments: 7
Kudos: 7





	1. Chocolate Souffle

**Author's Note:**

> Having spent the last three days in absolute anxiety over the election, I needed to write this to give myself some solace.
> 
> Enjoy!

It has been a long day of dreadfully boring classes and he was on his way home when he suddenly found himself standing in front of her apartment. Clearly, his feet knew exactly what he needed at that moment because even the prospect of seeing her was enough to ease the tension on his shoulders. He knew that she was probably home - if he was being honest, he probably has her schedule memorized because of the sheer amount of time they spend together. But he texted anyway just in case. After five minutes of waiting for a reply, he decided to just go up - Ryujin gave him an access card six months ago when she got trapped in the bathroom after an unfortunate incident involving a gecko. When the security officer finally opened the door, he found her looking pale and speechless. It ran in contrast to the Ryujin he met six months prior in that godforsaken microeconomics class - the one who exuded an air of effortless coolness underneath all the nervous energy and jitters. It had been her first day in university and only two weeks since she moved to Melbourne from Seoul. There was something about her that intrigued him, so he introduced himself. Before long, they bonded over their mutual hatred for their major. When he found out that she was an international student, Chris played tour guide and she was an eager participant, drinking in the city with vigor. It didn’t take long for their relationship to blossom into the kind of friendship that he’s never had with anyone else.

In the present day, he drops his bags on the floor cautiously and sits next to her, legs crossed to mimic her posture. He turns and observes the flour in her cheeks and hair. The black linen apron - the one she gave her for her birthday - has splotches of flour too.

He’s seen her like this a few times before - covered in flour and wholly consumed by the baking or cooking project at hand. He was always the giddy recipient of her handiwork. When he moved to Melbourne, he had accepted that he’ll probably never ever eat homecooked meals and will most certainly gain the famed Freshmen 15 because of the sheer amount of junk food he would consume since he is absolutely hopeless in the kitchen. But meeting Ryujin means that he’s been getting a steady supply of actual, human food because she’ll either cook or would insist that they go to this new restaurant or that new food truck in the neighborhood. When his mom came to town, she expressed her shock that he had kimchi and a few other _banchan_ in his fridge. He quickly credited a blushing Ryujin for that and it made him inexplicably happy to see his mom nod approvingly. But this… her sitting on the floor in front of the oven is a first.

“So what are we doing here?” he asks.

He tries to make out what’s currently baking but fails.

“I’m watching my kids incubate,” she says, not taking her eyes off the oven.

“Kids?”

“Yep,” she answers without a missing a beat.

He nods.

“I’m making souffle,” she explains after a few moments of silence.

“I’m not even going to pretend to know what that is.”

She reaches over to the counter and grabs her phone. A few seconds later, she shows him a picture of what looks like a mini chocolate cake with powdered sugar dusting on a white ramekin. She taps her screen a few more times and shows him a video.

“That looks amazing,” he says as he looks at the oven with renewed excitement.

“Don’t get your hopes up. They will not look like that.”

“Don’t speak ill of the kids.”

She rolls her eyes but he sees a ghost of a smile on her lips. He nudges her shoulder gently before leaning back on his arms, “It’ll be great. I have been eating your food for a year now and I can say with absolute certainty that none of it has been less than perfect.”

“You forget the brussels sprout,” she gives a pointed look and he winces. His mind flashes back to the black morsels that what used to be tiny green vegetables and the McDonald’s they ate shortly after.

“Yeah okay. So everything but that has been absolutely perfect.”

“The spiced cake.”

He winces again, “You have everything labeled now because of that.”

“The pina colada.”

“We had a really great time,” he could see her about to say something else and quickly continues, “The point is… you’re great at this. I can attest to it.”

“You’re also incredibly biased.”

“So what if I am? I like your food.”

She rolls her eyes but the smile has blossomed into a full-blown one, the whisker dimples on her cheeks on display.

She leans her head on his shoulder as she sighs. “Please turn out good,” she clasps her hands.

At that moment, as he hears her plead so earnestly to an oven while sitting on the floor, covered in flour, it dawns on him that he probably loves her.


	2. Apple Pie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryujin bakes an apple pie for a picnic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chronologically, this takes place before the previous chapter.

Ryujin thinks the most surprising thing about her living in Melbourne is the fact that she now cooks, on an insane regular basis. Having been brought up in a home where her mom always has perfectly homecooked meals on the table means she nor her sister never needed to do much in the kitchen. But within one week of living in Melbourne, she found herself missing home much more than she cared to admit. She missed her mom’s  _ gyeran-mari,  _ grilled mackerel, and the diverse array of  _ banchan _ that were always on the table. The Korean restaurants she had been to were great, but it just wasn’t the same. So she took it upon herself to just cook.

This meant long phone calls with her mom while she’s at the grocery store and even longer calls when she’s in her apartment’s tiny kitchen. Being new in town with no friends - granted, it had been only been about two weeks since she’s moved here - meant Ryujin had a lot of free time, and what better way to cure homesickness than to talk to people at home? After a while, she didn’t know if her missing her mom’s cooking was merely an excuse to talk to her parents and sister for hours at a time. 

Regardless, she learned and it became a habit that she found immensely enjoyable. She found calm and peace in chopping, measuring, and preparing each ingredient before combining them to make something entirely new. It felt like sorcery to see flour, sugar, and butter turn into something else entirely. That was why she found herself inching closer and closer towards baking rather than cooking. “There’s more magic involved,” she had said to Chris - her first friend in Melbourne who is also the recipient of her many baked goods - when he asked why she prefers baking.

Now, ten months into living in this new city, she’s standing in her tiny kitchen on a hot summer day, desperately rolling out the crust as fast as she humanly could. It’s a battle against time and heat, and currently, she is losing.

“UGHHH,” she moans as she dusts more flour into the softening dough. Despite blasting the AC, the summer heat is too overpowering.

She hears a knock on her door and she yells, “Just come in!” Even though Chris has a spare key, he still knocks - which she appreciates - but at times like this, she wishes he would just walk in.

In a few hours, they’re meeting their friends at the park for a picnic. She had volunteered to bring apple pie, not realizing that it isn’t in season for a few more months. So when she went grocery shopping a few days ago, she wasn’t able to find the Honeycrisp apples that she needed. This morning, she was about to make her pie with the granny smiths she had bought but when Chris called her to say that the grocery store near his apartment has the apples that she was looking for, she told him to please buy them and bring them to her as soon as humanly possible.

“Apple delivery!” she hears him say as he walks in. She mumbles something unintelligible in response as she flours her rolling pin. Ten minutes later, when she finally puts the crust in the oven, she turns around to find him lying on her sofa while playing on his phone. “Did you eat?” she asks, washing the apples on the sink.

“Not yet.”

“There’s leftover pasta in the fridge,” she says as she begins to cut. A few moments later, she sees him from the corner of her eye, taking out a fork and eating the cold pasta out of the container.

“Yah the microwave is right there,” she places the chopped apples into a metal bowl. She sees him shrug in response and sets down her knife. Grabbing the container of pasta, she gives him a look before she places it in the microwave. When her eyes return to him, his dimples make an appearance which means it's impossible for her to even pretend to be annoyed. “Thanks,” he says as she opens the microwave door to grab the now-warm pasta.

She forces herself to return to the apples to stop herself from doing something crazy like pull him for a hug or kiss the messy bits of sauce on his lips. The urge to do this has been increasing more and more lately and Ryujin has purposely not allowed herself to spend any time on it, fearing the answer.

“Did you see last night’s episode of Game of Thrones?” he asks.

“Of course.”

“Can you believe…”

She lets him pull her into a long conversation about the TV show, grateful that she doesn’t have to dwell too much on this burgeoning feeling that she has for the guy she is pretty sure is her best friend.

At the park, she sits on the mat with her friends and watches him run across the grassy field to catch the frisbee at a ridiculous speed. When he lies down next to her, huffing and puffing, forehead glistening with sweat, she hands him a bottle of cold water from the cooler, and instead of taking it, he guides her hand so that the bottle is resting on his cheek.

“The frozen water bottle was a good idea,” he says, squinting to look up at her. She shifts so that her shadow falls across his face and he smiles gratefully. “Thanks,” he says, “How will I ever survive without you, Ryujin-ah?”

She rolls her eyes as she lets go of the water bottle and stands up. He groans in protest. “Just fine,” she answers, squatting down next to the bowl of tortilla chips that their friend had brought, trying to hide the blush creeping on her cheeks.

“Probably,” suddenly, he’s next to her, “But I would hate that.”

She tries not to let the implication of his words affect her and squats to the side while he runs back to the field. When she looks down, she sees an unopened bottle of cold water next to her that wasn’t there before. She doesn’t need to ask to know who placed it there and she sighs.

_ I am so screwed. _


	3. Peach Galette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris' Dad makes very obvious suggestions.

Before Chris is a sight he never knew he needed: mom fussing over the Korean food on the table, dad grilling ribs in the backyard, younger brother Felix in the kitchen with friend (best friend?) Ryujin, laughing together. He, on the other hand, is standing by the dining table, eating utensils in hand but taking a moment to marvel at what’s happening in his house at the moment.

He didn’t quite know what to expect when he extended an invitation to spend Christmas with his family to Ryujin a month ago. She had just told him that her family’s holiday plans fell through because of her dad’s work and she was going to be in Melbourne on her own. It took him half a second to say that she should come to Sydney with him, knowing that his entire family who had already met her, would not have any objections. He communicated this when she expressed her concern at imposing, and he gave her exactly five more seconds to hesitate before dialing his mom’s phone number to tell her that they will need one additional space on the table this year. 

He knew that there was no conceivable way for things to go badly. His family loved her and his mom has said more than once that she wished that Ryujin was her daughter instead (Ryujin blushed while Chris and Felix protested at this). But seeing her completely entwined in the kitchen with his brother after spending the morning shopping with her mom and watching rugby re-runs with her dad feels a bit like a dream. A very nice dream, but still surreal.

“You’re not done setting the table?” his mom slaps his arm disapprovingly. He shakes his head and grins before setting a pair of chopsticks on the table. “I’m doing it, I’m doing it,” he says before his mom could scold him any further. He was just folding the last napkin when he saw his dad come in from the backyard with a giant platter of ribs. “Where’s everyone?” he asks and Chris gestures to the kitchen in response. “Are we going to eat soon?” his dad shouts. 

“Ryujin’s baking class isn’t done,” is the response that comes from the kitchen. His dad sighs extra loud as he says, “I guess we’re eating cold ribs.” There’s a conspiratorial smile that he exchanges with Chris as he sits at the head of the table and Chris just shakes his head in response.

“When are you going to ask her out?” the question makes Chris snap his attention away from his phone.

His dad smirks, “Someone like her isn’t going to be single for long. She’s a really great girl.” He taps on his wristwatch twice with a meaningful look before he stands and walks to the kitchen.

The truth is… this is not the first time that this question has ever been asked. Practically everyone he knows in Melbourne either assumes that he and Ryujin are already dating and when they inevitably find out that they are, in fact, just friends, they ask him the same question. It isn’t surprising - Chris and Ryujin  _ do  _ spend a lot of time together. If they’re not together, he’s talking about her. If they are together, all his attention and awareness are on her. It has been months since Shin Ryujin has become his entire world and if he’s being honest, he’s not exactly sure why he hasn’t asked her out either.

This same question continues to haunt him for the remainder of their time in Sydney. It doesn’t help that his dad would tap on his wristwatch on random occasions, which would make him blush a little before very quickly looking away. Things reach its peak when his dad makes a not-so-subtle comment on the driveway before they head to the airport.

“Better hurry! Wouldn’t want to miss it!”

Chris feels Ryujin glancing at him with confusion for a moment before proceeding to hug his mom. He hears her mom saying something about the recipe for the peach galette that Ryujin made a few days ago when he sees his dad making very exaggerated taps to his nonexistent wristwatch. He rolls his eyes and just mouths, “I know… I know…”

Later, when he notices Ryujin falling asleep on the seat next to him, he looks at his own wristwatch and wonders when he’ll be able to muster the courage to tell her.


End file.
